Dark Council (True Sith Empire)
The Dark Council was a twelve, later thirteen-member council that served as the ruling body of the True Sith Empire throughout much of the government's history. Each member of the Council held the title of Dark Lord of the Sith and controlled one of the twelve Spheres of Influence within the Empire, making the Council the most powerful individuals in the Empire below the Sith Emperor, Apocalyptos himself. Seats on the Council were hotly contested among the Sith, with the tenures of some Councilors lasting only months while others lasted decades, and every single individual within the entire Empire ultimately answered to one member of the Council through the Imperial hierarchy of power bases. Since its inception at the Empire's founding in 19 BBY, the Dark Council tried and failed to overthrow the Emperor twice and its members were purged as a result. Once Apocalyptos came into power, he kept the whole council in check, selecting only few to join the council - his most trusted followers. Ever since then, the council ruled over most of the empire's affairs. Organization Powers and Succession The ruling body of the Sith Empire, the Dark Council consisted of twelve Sith Lords who each held the title of Dark Lord of the Sith. As the Sith Emperor retreated into seclusion, the Dark Council took over the day-to-day managing of the Empire, and a seat on the Council meant that one was among the most powerful individuals in the Empire—second only to the Emperor himself. In the traditional order of succession on the Council, a fallen member's apprentice was the first choice to replace them, though there were other routes to gaining a seat. The Emperor himself could select new members, as he did after the two purges of traitorous Councils throughout the Empire's history, while the death of a Councilor at the hands of another Sith guaranteed that the victor would take the seat of the fallen Council member. When the traditional order of succession failed, or in case of emergency, the other members could select new Councilors during their meetings through a unanimous vote, though the Council was not always unanimous on which candidate to select. The Twelve Spheres of Influence Like the Sith Empire back in the Old Republic, each Council member controlled one of the twelve Spheres of Influence within the Empire, and the various Sith who served each Councilor maintained power bases of their own. Through that system of power bases, every single Sith within the Empire ultimately answered to one of the Dark Council, and every non-Sith organization also fell under one or more of the Councilors' Spheres of Influence. The Spheres of Military Offense and Defense of the Empire were advised by the Sphere of Military Strategy, and together those three Councilors controlled the Imperial Ministry of War. The Dark Councilor at the head of the Sphere of Imperial Intelligence oversaw the Ministry of Intelligence, while the Sphere of Production and Logistics controlled the Ministry of Logistics. The Dark Councilor in charge of the Sphere of Ancient Knowledge commanded the Imperial Reclamation Service, while the Sphere of Mysteries worked in secrecy to guard the secrets of the Sith and the Sphere of Sith Philosophy ensured that the Code of the Sith was upheld and spread anti-Jedi sentiment throughout the Empire. The Sphere of Expansion and Diplomacy oversaw the Imperial Diplomatic Service and the expansion of Imperial borders, and the Sphere of Laws and Justice maintained order and justice within the Empire itself. The final two Spheres, Technology and Biotic Science, oversaw the Empire's technological advancements and medical science respectively. History Early History When the True Sith Empire was founded, Darth Thanta established the Dark Council, later known as Thanta's Dark Council, after the succession of Apocalyptos. It was similar in style to the Dark Council back in the day, but they didn't have as much power and were just like a senate - voting for the emperor's decisions. Even then, the emperor made all the decisions and the council was used to agree on the decisions of the emperor. Thanta's Dark Council (19 BBY - 3 ABY) During the days of Thanta's Dark Council, The Dark Council consisted of twelve members: After Apocalyptos succeeded, he tried to re-create the council by eliminating the former council members, except for Darth Xion, as they were deemed as weak. He re-assembled them by giving the title of Dark Councilor to only his most trusted and loyal followers. He also made the Emperor's Voice, Darth Gremdehl, as their leader, leading the duties of the council. As he began to withdraw into seclusion, the Dark Council gradually took over the day-to-day running of the new Empire, and each Councilor assumed control over an aspect of the Empire. They ruled with an iron fist, defeating enemies and leading the empire. Conquest of Nathema The Council was sent to the homeworld of the former Sith Emperor of the reconstituted Sith Empire back in the Old Republic, Vitiate, to conquer it. Nathema was a planet that was barren and weak, but was proven to be a great asset to the empire, due to the many sites they had. The council was sent along with Darth Acira, the Emperor's Hand, to conquer it. Village by village was pillaged, as they took over the planet. After that, the villagers paid respects to them and then began to build a palace for Darth Acira, and her apprentice, Darth Aetherald on the planet. The Rage Plague One day, on Dromund Kaas, unexpectedly, a plague began to grow. This was the doing of a being known as "Ancharus", and his army. The Dark Council researched about this, but were unsuccessful with their findings. However, this plague came true and began to ravage Dromund Kaas. As Sarah and Gust waged conflict against Trevor Flare, the Vindictive, an organization that worked with the True Sith and guarded them evacuated all of the civilians from the planet and prepared for the worst. High Lord Valn, Lord Bal'Von, Kan toth and Yana along with Sith Lord Korax steadfastly defended the Citadel against the Arch Keeper and the Rage plage. The Arch Keeper rocketed into the guard tower like a great flame, with every guardsman he killed he gained more power as the Rage Plague infected their remains. Advancing across the bridge Valn and Bal'Von raised a mighty barrier, but it was useless against the Arch Keeper's power, the shield shattered and the two fell back. Valn believed that he had tricked the Arch Keeper as emerging from pillar were hundreds of troopers and sith which launched everything against the being. But it was no use. their attacks caused nothing but smoke as he drained them all and infected them. The Arch Keeper brutalised the walls of the Citadel with blood leaving any victim not infected impaled and made sure their insides were scattered around the citadel. Desperately the remaining survivors made a last ditch attempt to barricade themselves to but more time in the throne room. Sadly Darth Korax was infected and Kan Toth fell, what remains of him is unknown. As for the rest, they managed to escape by an emergency rift to Korriban, merely escaping death. Those in the council that didn't survive were Molaksi Tianda and Darth Malus. The Dark Council later shifted their operations to Korriban, where they would temporarily operate until the destruction of the Rage Plague, and Molaski being cured. Rebuilding Kaas City After the restoration of the Rage Plague, the Dark Council returned to Dromund Kaas and started commanding architects and builders to rebuild Kaas. However, with the help of Apocalyptos and the Vindictive, they managed to rebuild it quickly. Later days After the unification of the True Sith Empire and the Reborn Imperials, the Dark Council was larger, and then were separated into divisions: The Reborn Council and the Dark Council. When all together, they formed the Reborn Dark Council. Known Members Spheres *'Sphere of Ancient Knowledge' **Molaski Tianda **Darth Luminal † (12 BBY - 3 ABY) **Darth Rataruus † (19 BBY –12 BBY) *'Sphere of Biotic Science' **Darth Pestilencia *'Sphere of Defense of the Empire' **Darth Kronos *'Sphere of Expansion and Diplomacy' **Darth Kema *'Sphere of Imperial Intelligence' **Darth Espect **Darth Strak (19 BBY - 3 ABY) *'Sphere of Laws and Justice' **Darth Skeletor *'Sphere of Military Offense' **Darth Warrius **Darth Then † (10 BBY–3 ABY) **Darth Uerkox † (10 BBY) **Darth Olloch † (19 BBY–10 BBY) *'Sphere of Military Strategy' **Darth Famini **Darth Faaleenus †(19 BBY –3 ABY) *'Sphere of Mysteries' **Darth Xion *'Sphere of Production and Logistics' **Darth Sting *'Sphere of Sith Philosophy' **Darth Thanatos *'Sphere of Technology' **Darth Kihlon **Darth Zuikholra † (19 BBY–3 ABY) * Sphere of Construction and Infrastructure ** Darth Karaii Behind the Scenes The Dark Council was first introduced in the 2011 novel The Old Republic: Revan, a tie-in novel to Star Wars: The Old Republic. The novel revealed a great deal of information about the Empire's origins. During the course of the novel, the entire Dark Council is killed by the Emperor as the result of a conspiracy, regardless of whether or not they participated in the conspiracy. The Council later appears in The Old Republic, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game released by BioWare on December 20, 2011. Many of the Council members can die during the game, depending on the players' decisions. Currently only the light side options for Republic characters and the dark side options for Imperial characters are canon, and the fates of the individuals in the game will be reflected as such.24 Upon ascension to the Dark Council Darth Nox can also be dubbed Darth Occlus or Darth Imperius, should they be neutral or light sided, respectively. Both the former and the current Emperor's Wrath are said to possess powers and skills comparable to or greater than those of a typical Dark Councillor. The character of Darth Acina was first introduced in Star Wars: The Old Republic: Rise of the Hutt Cartel, the first Digital Expansion for Star Wars: The Old Republic, but her Codex entry stated that she was the successor to Darth Hadra, who had been killed on Corellia. However, this contradicted the 2012 novel The Old Republic: Annihilation, which stated that Darth Karrid was chosen as Hadra's successor. The Codex entry's error was rectified in Update 2.1.1 to correctly state that Acina succeeded Karrid. = Category:Factions Category:Governments Category:True Sith members